PERSONALITY AND HUMAN BEHAVIOUR BOH4M

PERSONALITY IN THE WORKPLACE In every workplace, you will find individuals with different personalities working together. The managers in these organizations are more successful if they understand not only their own personalities, but also the personalities of the individuals whom they manage.

PERSONALITY DEFINED Most psychologists believe that human personality is determined by a combination of genetics/heredity and environment/experiences. Personality is an individual's behavioural and emotional characteristics. It is what makes an individual unique. A personality trait is a habitual pattern of behaviour, thought, and emotion.

BIG FIVE A five-dimensional personality model nicknamed the "Big Five" is attributed primarily to psychologist Lewis Goldberg. In this model, the personality of an individual is described by indicating the degree to which the individual displays each dimension. This model describes personality but does not describe how personality is formed. Research demonstrates that all five factors show an influence from both hereditary and environmental factors. Personality is influenced and formed by cultural, social, and family factors.

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MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR One common method used to assess personality is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®). This assessment uses a multiple choice questionnaire where the individual selects answers that are the best fit. Energy/Focus Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I) Information Sensing (S) or Intuition (N) Decisions Thinking (T) or Feeling (F) Structure Judging (J) or Perceiving (P) The result is a profile stated as a four letter type, e.g. ESFP or INFJ. There are sixteen different types based on the four categories.

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TYPE AND YOUR WORK When you understand your type preferences, you can approach your own work in a manner that best suits your style, including how you manage your time, solve problems, approach decision making situations, and deal with stress. Knowledge of your type can help you deal with the culture of the place you work, the development of new skills, understanding your participation on teams, and coping with change in the workplace.

TRUE COLORS This method describes personalities as one of four colours: Green, Blue, Orange, or Gold.

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE Emotional Intelligence, referred to as both EI and EQ, deals with an individual’s ability to identify, assess, and manage his/her own emotions, as well as the ability to be aware of others’ emotions.

PERSONALITY TYPES AT WORK Why would a manager want to use personality assessments in the workplace? Managers have discovered that they are able to work more successfully with others if they have insight into their own personalities, as well as the personalities of the people they work with. The goal of administering personality assessments should be to allow managers to increase their own leadership effectiveness by helping them to interact more effectively with their staffs.